German 19th Army

The German 19th Army was a field army of Nazi Germany that was active from 26 August 1943 to 21 April 1945 during World War II. The army was formed in occupied southern France, consisting of understrength third tier soldiers, wounded veterans, conscripts, and collaborators. The army was given damaged and obsolete equipment, as southern France was seen as a third tier theater. During Operation Dragoon, the August 1944 Allied invasion of southern France, the 19th Army was trapped in an enormous encirclement, suffering 7,000 dead or missing, 20,000 wounded, and 140,000 captured, and it was largely destroyed as a fighting force. Its headquarters survived, withdrawing north to defend the Rhine River. The army was again encircled and largely destroyed in the Colmar Pocket, and many of its best men and junior leaders were killed or captured. The army's remnants was rebuilt from Volkssturm and hastily trained replacements, and it was subjected to French armored thrusts into Baden, the Black Forest, and Wurttemberg before being destroyed around Stuttgart and Muensingen in late April 1945. On 8 May 1945, the army surrendered to the US Army.